(BERKELEY HEIGHTS) -- Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (WIPA)  has launched a nationwide online learning platform with its summer program offerings including virtual camps, Zoom private lessons, workshops, and master classes that the whole family can enjoy right from home.

“In these challenging times, it is our duty and social responsibility as a non-profit organization to give back and do our part in offering music lessons online of a high caliber while remaining accessible for all,” said Peter H. Gistelinck, Executive Director of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. “We are confident that our online programs will expand our footprint beyond our New Jersey home base, and may even have a significant nationwide impact.”

Dedicated to the highest quality performing arts education, Wharton has cultivated an online space for creativity, community, and collaboration through an array of affordable summer activities for all ages. All of the online programs can be found at www.WhartonArtsOnline.org.

The public is invited to a virtual Open House on Friday, May 29 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm using the video conferencing platform Zoom. This free event will feature demo classes and Q&A sessions with New Jersey Youth Symphony, Paterson Music Project, and Performing Arts School faculty and staff.

A $25 Open House discount is offered on all enrollments taken during the virtual Open House. To attend the virtual Open House, sign up online at www.WhartonArtsOnline.org. For more information, call (908) 790-0700.

The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts’ mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education to a wide range of students in a supportive and inclusive environment, where striving for personal excellence inspires and connects those we teach to the communities we serve.

Wharton is New Jersey’s largest independent non-profit community performing arts education center serving over 1,500 students through a range of classes and ensembles including the 15 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, which serve 500 students in grades 3 – 12 by audition. Beginning with Out of the Box Music and Pathways classes for young children, Wharton offers private lessons, group classes, and ensembles for all ages and all abilities at the Performing Arts School. With the belief in the positive and unifying influence of music and the performing arts and that arts education should be accessible to all people regardless of their ability to pay, Wharton teaches all instruments and voice and has a robust musical theater program. Based in Paterson, New Jersey, the Paterson Music Project is an El Sistema-inspired program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts that uses music as a vehicle for social change by empowering and inspiring children through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing.

Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts is located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence and Paterson, NJ and reaches students from 10 counties. All of Wharton’s extraordinary faculty members and conductors hold degrees in their teaching specialty and have been vetted and trained to enable our students to achieve their personal best.